AN eco-friendly hair salon in Londonderry has won a design award, six months after its building was destroyed in a fire.
RoCo, which relocated to the Quay on Strand Road after a blaze from a neighbouring building damaged its original premises, was named Salon Design of the Year 2015 at the Northern Ireland Hair and Beauty Awards in the Europa Hotel in Belfast on Sunday.
Salon owners Ronan Stewart and Connor Grant were devastated when disaster struck in March this year, as a fire forced them to close their luxury salon, but the pair refused to accept defeat, opening up a pop-up salon in Derry’s city centre within days of the blaze.
After discovering a vacant waterfront building, they immediately set about renovating the space into a stunning 4,000sq ft eco-haven.
With the help of a team of local architects, builders and carpenters, they scoured the country to salvage different pieces for the new salon, making 16 unique hair stations from old sash windows, recycled from a County Derry pub, reusing 5,000 two pence pieces for a feature on the coffee bar, transforming oak railway sleepers as displays for RoCo’s product range, and even recycling f loor boards from a school gym to create 10 hair trolleys.
More than £5,000 was spent on low-energy LED lighting, while super-efficient heating provided a finishing touch to this eco-triumph.
The two-f loor salon also boasts a retail area for the RoCo brand of organic products, a VIP area that accommodates parties of up to 10, an academy space for teaching, two make-up areas, two basin rooms with massage chairs and a tan suite for RoCo’s custom-made organic tan.
Co-owner Ronan Stewart said the Salon Design of the Year award was the crowning glory of six months’ hard toil.
“Naturally we were devastated when the fire destroyed our old salon, but we decided to turn a negative into a positive and open an even bigger and brighter one,” he said.
“Our ethos has always been eco-friendly and sustainable so we wanted to get that across in our new salon.
“From the old sash windows which we found in a local salvage yard, which were transformed into hair stations, to recycled furniture from the Redcastle Hotel & Coach House in nearby Donegal, everything has been given a new life and purpose.
“After such a blow at the start of the year, to win Salon Design of the Year 2015 at the Northern Ireland Hair and Beauty Awards has been amazing.
“We’re absolutely thrilled and are looking forward to building on our success in the months ahead.”